Fenghou

Chapter 967 Containment
According to Zhe Keqiu's original plan, after the Western Army captured Shanzhou and Mianchi County, Xin'an County was to be rebuilt immediately, and Xin'an County should be built into a new city. Jianghuai did not support the idea of ​​half-way, but reached a compromise with the Western Army. The two sides used Mianchi County and Xin'an County as a buffer, and neither stationed troops nor changed the status quo.

Building a city is also a way to change the status quo. It is impossible to withstand the pressure of the puppet Qi court, and there is no financial resources to build the city.

After discovering Chen Qing's plan to attack the Central Plains, he tried to build Xin'an County, but it was too late.

But Xin'an County is the west gate of Luoyang, and there must be no one guarding the gate, otherwise the Western Army will drive straight in, but how can Xin'an County, a dilapidated county, be able to defend it?
In the end, under the urging of Wanyan Wushu, he still sent [-] troops to defend Xin'an County. His principle is, if he can defend it, he will defend it. If he can't, he will immediately abandon Xin'an County and withdraw to ensure that the troops will not damage.

It's a pity that he met Chen Qing. The principle Chen Qing formulated was to wipe out the enemy's troops regardless of the gains or losses of a city or a place.

The chief general of Xin'an County is called Wang Zan, and he is a reliable confidant. He is currently in command of an official, commanding an army of [-] people. Since he was stationed in Xin'an County, Wang Zan has been in a state of restlessness, and he is extremely concerned about the movements of the Western Army. Sensitive, as long as he gets news that the main force of the Western Army has appeared in Mianchi County, he will immediately retreat.

At dawn the next day, several cavalry came rushing in from a distance, holding high the black dragon red flag of the Western Army. The defenders immediately became nervous and closed the city gate immediately.

The leader of the western army rushed to the city and shouted: "Yang Dutong has a letter to the commander of your army!"

After speaking, the soldiers of the Western Army shot the letter of arrow on the top of the city. Some soldiers picked up the letter of arrow and rushed to the barracks to report it.

At this time, Wang Zan was discussing countermeasures with three commanders in the big tent. One of the three commanders was Xie Zhensheng, who was Wang Zan's brother-in-law.

The other two commanders are Shi Dawu and Su Qian. They are both from Ruzhou, and their hometowns are in neighboring counties.

"The humble staff felt that the spies in Shanzhou were not reliable at all. How did the [-] troops in Mianchi County appear? There was no news from Shanzhou. Later, they said that the army in Shanzhou had not decreased, so why didn't they find the [-] troops passing through the border? ?”

Su Qian also said: "Control, General Shi is right. Chen Qing's army can't be delayed until May. The day lily is cold. He has always been elusive when he dispatches troops. It will be too late to leave when the main force of the enemy army appears. Let's hurry up." Withdraw to Luoyang!"

Of course, the two generals Shi and Su did not call for withdrawal for no reason. The main reason was that their spies in Mianchi County discovered an abnormality yesterday. The [-] soldiers of the Western Army stationed in Mianchi County were all infantry, but the spies discovered that they had all turned into cavalry. , which is very strange.

Not to mention where the horses came from, the key point is that they always thought that the Mianchi garrison was the army of Shanzhou, but the Shanzhou garrison could not be cavalry, so it means that the [-] garrison came from Guanzhong. Now that the Guanzhong army has come, I am afraid that the war will come soon.

Wang Zan sighed and said, "I'll send someone to ask the commander in chief! If the commander allows us to withdraw, we will withdraw immediately."

At this moment, the soldiers outside the account reported: "Qi report to control, the Song army shoots arrows and letters to the city!"

"Come in!"

The soldiers came in and handed Wang Zan an arrow letter. Wang Zan quickly opened the letter and read it carefully. He suddenly stood up and his expression changed drastically.

The three looked at each other, and Xie Zhensheng asked, "Control, what news?"

"It was written by Yang Zaixing." Wang Zan's expression was extremely complicated.

The three of them were also shocked, how could it be Yang Zaixing, he should be in Jingzhao.

Shi Dawu asked anxiously, "What did he say?"

"He persuaded us to surrender, saying that we had done nothing wrong and could be forgiven, he said. He had led an army to Mianchi County."

"impossible!"

Xie Zhensheng denied it outright, "If he is in Mianchi County, why would we have no news at all."

Su Qian sneered and said, "Didn't we have no news about the five thousand war horses just mentioned?"

"Horses are different from people!"

"What's the difference? Are five thousand horses still goods?"

"Okay! Stop arguing."

Wang Zan interrupted the argument between the two, sighed and said, "Whether you have come or not, we will have news at noon!"

No need to wait until noon, an hour later, they received a message from Mianchi County flying pigeons, Yang Zaixing led tens of thousands of Song troops had appeared outside Mianchi County, the army had passed Mianchi County, and was heading towards Xin'an County.

Wang Zan no longer hesitated, and immediately led an army of [-] to retreat eastward. The army left Xin'an County and retreated to Luoyang.

The messengers were two close-knit soldiers. Wang Zan knew them. The two stepped forward to salute, and the leader of the soldiers clasped their fists together and said, "General, [-] cavalrymen from the Western Army are coming from the east, and they are about to arrive. The commander-in-chief ordered the general to turn south immediately and return to Luoyang around the official road in the south."

"what!"

Wang Zan was taken aback. He suspected that he had heard it wrong. "You just said that the cavalry of the Western Army came from the east?"

"Exactly! The Western Army bypassed Beiman Mountain and came from Yanshi County. They came to Luoyang yesterday evening, and they should be almost in Xin'an County."

Several generals looked at each other, Xie Zhensheng asked anxiously: "Where is the other party?"

"We are riding two horses. The other party may rest for an hour or two, and is about forty or fifty miles behind us."

All the generals looked at Wang Zan, he was the chief general, and it was up to him to make the final decision.

Wang Zan sighed and said, "Pass on my order, the army will turn south!"

The [-]-strong army turned around and walked west for a few miles, then took another official road heading south, and ran south at a faster speed.
The march of a large army is not like scouts. Scouts can walk on mountain roads, trails, and even in the wilderness, but normal army marches must walk on flat official roads. Soldiers are not easily injured and can travel long distances.

The distance from Xin'an County to Luoyang City is a hundred miles. There are two official roads, one is Zhengguan Road, also called Luoyang Avenue, and the other along the Luoshui River in the south is another official road called Luoshui Road.

Luoshui Road to Luoyang is about [-] miles farther than Luoyang Avenue, which is equivalent to walking on the back. Although it is much farther, the [-] signings have no choice, they can only divert to the south.

At this time, Li Muqing led [-] cavalrymen [-] miles away, and he also received news from the former army's scouts that the [-] soldiers had diverted to the south.

This was within their expectations. Of course, the Song Army also had a plan. Li Muqing immediately ordered General Yang Duan to lead [-] cavalry to continue to intercept on Luoyang Avenue, while he personally led [-] cavalry to Luoshui Avenue.

Wang Zan led an army of [-] troops all the way south, and the sky was getting dark. The soldiers were tired, hungry and thirsty, so they had to stop to rest, but Wang Zan had no choice but to order the whole army to rest for two hours.

The soldiers were sitting on the grass, nibbling dry food and drinking water. The news that they were surrounded had spread throughout the army, and people were panicking.

At this moment, Su Qian sat beside Shi Dawu and whispered, "What do you think, do you really want to go back to Luoyang?"

Shi Dawu shook his head and said, "How could it be possible to return to Luoyang? With [-] cavalry, if we go south, will others not know? They will catch up with us soon, maybe they will intercept us in front, and there is Yang Zaixing's army behind us .”

Su Qian was silent for a moment and said: "Since Yang Zaixing recruited us to surrender and said that we have no great evil, I want to surrender."

Shi Dawu sighed, "I want to too! If I give my life to Jin Bing, I won't have the face to go back to my hometown."

Su Qian looked left and right, and said in a low voice, "It's not enough money to surrender like this. It's better to kill Wang Zan and take his head to surrender."

Shi Dawu shook his head and said: "It is enough for us to bring our own troops to surrender. He is very skilled in martial arts, and with Xie Zhensheng's support, I'm afraid I won't be able to kill him, and I will be killed by him."

"Then do it!"

Su Qian made up his mind and said: "Gather our six thousand brothers, turn around and head north"

(End of this chapter)